Hurt
by madwriter223 -TF
Summary: Prequel to 28 Meme Greedy. Thundercracker and Skywarp must find out why their Littlest went crazy or else Soundwave will have to use his ability to get to the explanation. Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Thundercracker/Skywarp/Starscream. Written in Katsuko's AU.


**Hurt**

"It's not like him, sir."

"I do not care, Thundercracker! What I want to know is why he attacked and _mangled_ Dirge and Thrust!"

"I'm sure there is a reason, sir. He wouldn't attack unprovoked outside of battle."

"Well, it better be a damn good reason. Because right now, I'm a trine short, and my CSO is going to _stay_ in the brig, till I get an explanation."

"Sir, I assure you-"

"I don't want anymore excuses. I want to know why my head scientist went berserk."

"...yes, sir."

"I give you and Skywarp one joor. Then I'm sending Soundwave."

"That won't be neccessary, sir. We'll get the answer."

"Get out of my sight."

A salute and he was off.

*~*~*~*

Thundercracker entered the brig, Skywarp flanking him. The SIC took a moment to observe his other trinemate, currently sitting with his wings to them, then turned to the guard.

"You're dismissed."

"No disrespect, sir, but I was ordered by Lord Megatron-"

"Who just finished a meeting with _me_. I am aware of the situation. Now get out."

The guard blinked, then stood, saluting briefly before leaving.

As soon as his aft was out of the room, Skywarp closed and locked the doors, Thundercracker leaning over the console to type in the code deactivating the bars, at the same time turning off the surveilance cameras off.

Satisfied they were essentially 'in private', both TC and Warp hurried over to their Littlest, pulling his tense frame close.

After a moment, Starscream let out a small coo, and his wings sagged slightly, optics dimming.

TC drew back, while Warp tightened his hold, nuzzling their Littlest's helm softly.

"Star." TC kept his tone calm and low, rubbing soothing circles over one blue servo. "What happened?"

Dark dermas pursed into a thin line.

"Please, Littlest." the blue seeker continued, underterred. "We need to know, so you can leave here."

A slow blink, then the other shook his helm.

Slaggit. Their Star prefered to bottle everything that really hurt him inside himself, and sometimes, he needed to be hurt further to release the pain. It needed to be done, even if it hurt the other two seekers as well.

TC didn't want to resort to that, but it looked there was no other way. He would never allow Soundwave to rape their Star's mind.

He stilled his servo, letting the slim digits fall from his grasp. He made a sharp gesture, and Skywarp reluctantly released the tri-coloured mech, sitting back and glaring at his servos.

He knew what was coming too.

The ble seeker took a deep intake, steeling his resolve. "Do you have any idea how ugly you looked?" Thundercracker asked, tone and expression cold, mocking. Starscream tensed, optics blazing to life. "Our 'beautiful' Star, covered in Energon and snarling like a brainless beast." Blue servos clenched into tight fists. "You looked like a madmech, cruel like the Autobot that bombed Kaon's main nursery." Skywarp winced at the cruelty of that.

"How dare you..." An enraged whisper in a scratchy vocalizer.

"What could have they done to deserve that?" A derisive optic-ridge rose.

"They-!" Starscream cut himself off, dentals clenching.

"What. Did. They. Do?"

"They destroyed my lab! Erased half my data, virused the rest, spillt my chemicals, killed my test subjects!"

Skywarp looked at him with a sharp intake – nomech touched Star's lab and left undamaged. But never before like this...

TC knew that too. "You have back-up, I know you do. And Shockwave sends you any chemicals you want." He paused, then leaned closer. "What _else_ did they do?"

Starscream glared at him, whole frame nerly vibrating in his rage. It looked as if he was just about to either explode or attack him. Instead, he suddenly slumped forward, tension leaving him in a rush. "They deleted the files I had compiled with Skyfire." he whispered brokenly, optics dimming. "All the data I had on him too... I don't have a backup copy of those."

TC offlined his optics, jaw clenching. Of course, Skyfire. The giant idiot that had somehow managed to befriend their Littlest at the Academy, the one that had flown straight into a blizzard and offlined himself. The one that had nearly gotten Star thrown out of the Academy with that stunt.

The stunt that Starscream still blamed himself for.

Their Littlest still blamed himself for the deactivation of the first friend he had outside their trine.

He onlined his optics, gazing sadly at the tri-coloured seeker. Their Littlest was curled in on himself, Energon tears trailing down his cheeks as he clung to Skywarp, who had him captured in a tight hug, tears of his own wetting his optics.

The wound refused to heal, constantly bleeding pain into the scientist's thoughts.

TC moved closer, gathering both his trinemates into his arms, cooing soothingly when they pressed closer to his chassis.

_'Three are one, and one is three_

_What hurts them, hurts also me_

_A smile of theirs is a smile of mine_

_There is nothing more important then my trine'_

He chuckled to himself as the seekerlet song appeared in his mind, the memory of their younglinghood trine playing together following close after.

Happy times long ago.

He bent his helm forward, nuzzling his trinemates gently. Starscream had calmed down considerably, only sniffling now. Warp was also much calmer, trailing a finger back and forth over a dark optic-ridge.

"You'll have to let him go one day, Star." TC murmured, kissing the other's helm softly.

Their Littlest nodded, giving a faint wing-twitch. He knew.

TC sighed softly, and nudged Warp. "Port us to our quarters.'

"What about Megs?"

"We'll deal with him after some rest. With Dirge and Thrust too."

"I've already dealt with them." Starscream murmured, offlining his optics. Hence he was not aware of the worried looks of his trinemates.

"Not enough." Warp muttered, too quietly for the other to hear. A simple long visit to Hook was not enough for the pain their actions refreshed.

He then grabbed onto his trinemates' servos, 'porting them away.

*~*~*~*

Soundwave stood before his Lord, analysing the scene he witnessed though Ravage's optics.

"Conclusion: attack caused by the destruction of Starscream's private lab. Deciding factor: erasure of important data. Result: temporary instability in Starscream."

Megatron nodded, tapping a finger against his chin. "So they thrashed his lab and he got pissed."

"Affirmative."

"Are they still in the brig?"

"Negative."

"Of course." Megatron rubbed his helm. "Inform them Starscream's forgiven, and Thundercracker is to take on your paperwork for the next vorn for breaking an order."

"Affirmative."

"When you're done, go down to the med bay and find out why those two idiots decided to antagonise my genius."

"Affirmative."

"Dismissed."


End file.
